Father, 84, two sons in the dock over Anglo Leasing

Kenya: Three members of the Kamani family named in the Anglo Leasing scandal have been charged.

Controversial businessman Deepak Kamani, his brother and father were arraigned in court over their alleged role in the multi-billion shilling Anglo Leasing scandal. Deepak, Rashmi Kamani and Chamanlal Kamani appeared before Chief Magistrate Hannah Ndung'u yesterday and pleaded not guilty to various charges against them.

The men denied that they fraudulently acquired public property in contravention of procurement laws.

The prosecution alleged that on or about January 12, 2004 the three, being owners of Infotalent Ltd, jointly through fraud acquired public property by receiving 1,786,898 euros held in HSBC Republic Bank without delivery of financing activities.

They were also accused of receiving 3,500,266 euros in April 21, 2004 through the same bank account without delivering services.

Kamani is accused of conspiring with top government officials to swindle taxpayers through his companies Infotalent Limited, Sound Day Corporation and Apex Finance Corporation.

The trio walked into the court sandwiched by police officers.

Rashmi pleaded with the court not to confiscate his passport. He said that he lived with his family in Dubai and therefore needed to get back to them.

He said that his wife had a medical condition that required constant care.

The DPP, however, opposed the request. "Rashmi, we are told that he lives in United Arab Emirates and that is the reason why he needs to deposit his passport. There is no extradition treaty between the two countries. Once you are charged, you are subject to lose freedom to the extent the court decides. If it is left to the accused to decide what is convenient, no one would attend the trial.''

The magistrate ordered Rashmi to deposit his passport and seek permission from the court if he needed to leave the country.

"The accused persons have willingly appeared. I ask this court to admit them on bond or bail on reasonable terms. No matter what the offence they face, they are entitled to bail. This is an old case of 12 years and if anybody wanted to abscond they would have done so a long time ago,'' their lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi told the court.

Chamanlal, who is aged 84, also pleaded with the court to let him keep his passport for medical reasons. He argued that he constantly visits India for treatment and therefore should be exempted from depositing his travel documents.

 

"I decline the request by Rashmi for the very reason that he is domiciled in the UAE. I also decline the request by Chamanlal because age alone does not guarantee one preferential treatment. The passports are to be deposited in 14 days," said Ms Ndung'u.

Deepak and his brother Rashmi were released on a Sh4 million cash bail, while their father was released on a Sh2 million bail.

The trio appeared before Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday morning and were later brought to the court.

The Kamanis had been given the green light by the same court to plead to their charges a day after seven other suspects. Their lawyers had asked the court to excuse them as they were out of the country. The hearing was set for March 18.